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Space Amoeba (1970 film)
American International Pictures |rating =G |budget =$?,???,??? |gross =$?,???,??? |runtime =84 minutes |designs =ShodaiGezo, ShodaiGanime, ShodaiKamo }} Space Amoeba is a 1970 produced and released by . It was released to Japanese theaters on August 1, 1970. This was director Ishirō Honda's last monster movie before he began writing scripts for television as well, and the first such movie made after the death of special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya. Teisho Arikawa did the special effects for this film. Synopsis A space probe, dubbed "Helios 7," is sent to study Jupiter. En Route to the planet, the probe is invaded by Yog, an extraterrestrial being of pure energy. The probe lands in the South Pacific, where the disembodied alien leaves the device and invades the body of a Gezora, a giant cuttlefish, which proceeds to wreak havoc. When a photographer named Kudo and a small entourage landed on Sergio Island, they are likewise menaced by Gezora. Gezora can generate extremely cold temperatures with its body, either naturally or due to Yog. When it is discovered that Gezora is vulnerable to fire, Kudo and his allies use a leftover Japanese World War II munitions cabin discovered on the island to set the monster aflame. Severely burned, the creature retreats to the water to die. However, Yog continues its attack by similarly invading and controlling the bodies of two other rare giant creatures, a gigantic crab called Ganimes and a gigantic predatory water turtle called Kamoebas. The two monsters are coaxed into battling each other through the use of bats' natural sonar, which Yog has an aversion to. The two monsters stumble into an erupting volcano and meet their end, destroying Yog in the process. Staff *Directed by - Ishiro Honda *Written by - Ei Ogawa *Produced by - Tomoyuki Tanaka, Fumio Tanaka *Music by - Akira Ifukube *Production Designer - Takeo Kita *Assistant Director - Seiji Tani *Chief Assistant Special Effects Director - Teruyoshi Nakano *Special Effects Cinematographer - Yoichi Manoda *Optical Effects - Yoshiyuki Tokumasa *Special Effects Set Director - Yasuyuki Inoue Cast Actor's name on the left, characters played on the right. *Akira Kubo - Taro　Kudo, Journalist *Atsuko Takahashi - Ayako　Hoshino　 *Yukiko Kobayashi - Saki, Daughter of Sergio Island *Kenji Sahara - Makoto　Obata *Yoshio Tsuchiya - Dr. Kyouichi　Miya, Biologist *Tetsu Nakamura - Onbo, Elder　of Sergio Island *Yuu Fujiki - Mayor of publicity department of company 『Asia development』 *Yoshitake Saitou - Riko, Youth　of Sergio Island *Yuuko Sugihara - Stewardess *Sachio Sakai - Chief editor of Weekly magazine 『Topics』 *Tyoutaro Tougin - Yokoyama, Investigation engineer *Wataru Oomae - Sakura, Investigation engineer *Ichiro Murakoshi - Voice of Yog *Haruo Nakajima - Gezora and Ganimes *Haruyoshi Nakamura - Kamoebas Appearances Monsters *Gezora *Ganimes *Kamoebas (ShodaiKamo) Weapons, Vehicles, and Races *Yog *Helios 7 Gallery Soundtrack Alternate Titles *''Gezora, Ganimes, Kamoebas: Decisive Battle! Giant Monsters of the South Seas'' (Literal Japanese title) *''Yog, Monster From Space'' (United States) Reception While some fans deride the film as a last gasp of the genre, others appreciate the fact that the monsters have been scaled down (only being 20 to 30 meters tall), making their interactions with human characters more compelling. Videos Trailers Space Amoeba Trailer|''Space Amoeba'' Japanese trailer Yog - Monster From Space (1970) - Trailers|''Yog—Monster from Space'' American trailers Trivia *Akira Ifukube experimented with synthesizers for the first time in his score for this film. *This is the only time Haruo Nakajima portrayed two in one film. *On the poster, Gezora is seen fighting Kamoebas, although the two beasts never come into contact in the film itself. *Ganimes, Gezora and Kamoebas appeared in episode 57 of Keroro Gunso, though their origins are different. *''Space Amoeba'' was the last non-Godzilla movie to be directed by Ishiro Honda. *''Space Amoeba'' is widely considered to be the last filmed in the classic style. *Although Godzilla does not appear, this story does take place in a version of the Godzilla universe, as it is referenced in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.. External Links *Guinn, Troy. (2006). Space Amoeba (DVD review) at eccentric-cinema.com *KFC Cinema Review Poll Do you like Space Amoeba? Yes! No. Kind of. Category:Films Category:Kaiju films Category:1970s films Category:Japanese films Category:Films directed by Ishiro Honda Category:Kiryu Saga Continuity Category:Showa films